Nitasha Sharma

Dr. Nitasha Sharma is an Assistant Professor of African American Studies and Asian American Studies at Northwestern University’s Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. In her time at Northwestern University, Sharma has taught classes such as Comparative Race Relations: Asian and Black Relations in the United States, The Racial and Gender Politics of Hip Hop, and Race, Crime, and Punishment: Prisons, The Border, and Post 9/11 Detentions. Sharma received her formal education at the University of California at Santa Barbara in 2004 specializing in anthropology. Her primary areas of scholarly interest focus on Afro/Asian American relations especially in terms of studying the relationship between the two through hip hop music. In her latest publication, Hip Hop Desis, she examines the reasons that second generation, middle class to affluent Asian Americans strive to be part of the hip hop culture that has been more or less claimed by the African American community. She examines the content of these songs as they represent notions of terror, racism and other pertinent issues in the African American and Asian American communities. Her writing has received positive response from Asian American Activists and scholars such as Vijay Prashad along with popular culture and American Studies scholar George Lipsitz. In addition to Hip Hop Desis, she is currently working on her second book, Hapas and Douglas: Asian/Black Multiraciality in Hawaii and Trinidad.

Contents

• Wadali brothers charkha sung by nitasha sharma
• Roundtable expanding islands part 6 nitasha sharma
• References

Sharma has received many accolades and academic awards in her field especially during her time as a Northwestern University faculty member. These awards include National Emerging Scholar 2009, Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, Woodrow Wilson Career Enhancement Grant (2009–2010), Outstanding Teaching Award, African American Studies at Northwestern University two consecutive years (2006–2007,2007–2008). Sharma has been cited in many scholarly works, primarily in ethnic journals such as the Journal of South Asian American Public Affairs, Journal of Political and Legal Anthropology, and the South Asian Magazine for Action and Reflection.

In addition to her contributions to various written scholarly publications and works, Sharma has offered and continues to offer her insight and research by speaking at universities and colleges throughout the United States including New York University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Highline Community College. This June, Sharma will be speaking at the 24th Annual National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in American Higher Education held in San Francisco. In addition to her scholarly pursuits Nitasha Sharma also has a self-produced hip hop album out in 2007 called Island Beatz featuring such luminaries as Ghostface Killah, the RZA, and Puff Daddy.